Like Esau And Jacob
"Like Esau And Jacob" is a mini-story in the EMPATH: The Luckiest Smurf series. Story During Empath's first visit to the Smurf Village, Empath had a private talk with Tapper about Hefty and Handy. "Those two Smurfs seem to be constantly arguing with each other over the matter of brawn and brains being the most important of the two," Empath said. "Aye, that's one argument that will never seem to end, Empath," Tapper said. "Hefty believes that being strong is the most important part of being a Smurf, and Handy believes that being smart is the most important part. Neither of them really see that they are both essential parts, so that's why they argue about it a lot." "This smurf senses that there's a lot of pride in Hefty that goes beyond just being the strongest Smurf in the village," Empath said. "Hefty is very prideful, I will smurf you that," Tapper said. "It's not just because he's the strongest Smurf, but also because he's the first Smurf of our generation who was born. Handy, his twin brother, was born minutes after Hefty was, and Hefty will not let Handy smurf without being reminded of that fact. It reminds me of another smurf of twins who were born, by the names of Esau and Jacob." "Who were Esau and Jacob?" Empath asked. "They are human brothers who were born to Abraham's son Isaac through his wife Rebekah, Empath," Tapper said. "Esau was red-faced and full of energy, and he smurfed his life as a hunter, proving himself to his father by smurfing home game that he smurfed as tasty food that his father liked. Jacob, however, was smooth-skinned and smurfed his life dwelling in tents and becoming a shepherd, being the favorite of his mother." "This smurf is not sure how that comparison applies to both Hefty and Handy, Tapper," Empath said. "It's not a perfect comparison, Empath, but it does smurf me some interesting insight as to what may become of those two Smurfs," Tapper said. "In the story, God told Rebekah as she was smurfing Esau and Jacob in the womb that she was smurfing two nations inside her, that one would be stronger than the other, and that the older would serve the younger. Jacob must have heard about this prophecy and knew that Isaac would smurf Esau the inheritance that would normally be smurfed unto the firstborn, so one time as Esau smurfed home from hunting, Jacob was smurfing up some stew, and Esau was so famished that he asked his brother to smurf him some of the stew. Jacob told Esau that he must first smurf up his birthright, and Esau wondered what good his birthright would smurf him when he was starving, but Jacob insisted, and Esau smurfed his birthright to his brother before smurfing his meal and eating it." "That seems real sneaky for this Jacob to do with his brother, though this smurf doesn't sense any element of this within Handy, Tapper," Empath said. "There's more to this story, Empath," Tapper said. "Later on in life, when Isaac was so ill and blind that he was near death, he had his son Esau smurf out into the wilderness to smurf game so that he could smurf it into food that he liked. While Esau was gone, Rebekah had her son Jacob smurf up in his brother's clothes and wear goatskin on his hands so that Isaac wouldn't know that Esau was Jacob. He then appeared in Isaac's tent with what appeared to be game prepared into his father's favorite food, and his father wondered how Esau got it so quickly, and Jacob said that it was because the Lord had smurfed him." "So this Jacob was not only sneaky in getting his brother's inheritance, but now he's also a liar," Empath said. "It was all according to God's purpose in the long run, Empath, not that it made Esau happy to find out that he and his father had been tricked," Tapper said. "Anyway, after Jacob received the blessing for the firstborn from Isaac and Esau returned to find out that the blessing was already given, Esau wanted revenge and was going to kill his brother. Their mother Rebekah told Jacob to flee to his uncle Laban and stay there until he receives word that Esau has forgotten about him. Jacob does flee, but he ends up marrying Laban's two daughters and fathering the twelve tribes of Israel." "This smurf is still at a loss for figuring out how this story applies itself to the constant feuding between Hefty and Handy, Tapper," Empath said. "This smurf can't sense that it may someday lead to Handy tricking Hefty into doing something that would cause Hefty to seek revenge for it." "It's only a possibility, Empath," Tapper said. "They are not the only brothers from this holy book that I've been smurfing who were having problems with each other. Back in the beginning, there was Cain and Abel, with Cain being a gardener and Abel being a shepherd. They both offered sacrifices unto the Almighty, with Cain offering his firstfruits and Abel offering the best from his flock. However, the Almighty favored Abel's offerings over Cain's, which made Cain so angry that he decided to slay his brother. That made God so angry with Cain that He smurfed him away from His presence and smurfed a mark upon him, saying that upon whoever slays Cain, his death shall be avenged sevenfold." "This Almighty seems to be too merciful upon someone who deserves justice for killing his own brother, Tapper," Empath said. "And then there's also Ishmael and Isaac, the sons of Abraham," Tapper continued. "The Almighty promised Abraham that he would have a son for whom the covenant of the land that would become Israel would be smurfed on to. Abraham smurfed that he was too old to have a son, and so did his wife Sarah, so she smurfed Abraham her maidservant Hagar so that they could smurf a son through her. It was from Hagar that Ishmael was born, but later on the Almighty revealed that the promised son would come from Sarah, which made her laugh because she knew she was too old to have children. But God proved Himself that His words were true when later on Sarah would give smurf to Abraham's son Isaac." "So where's the strife between these two brothers, Tapper?" Empath asked. "The strife came when, at the time Abraham and his household celebrated Isaac's birth, that Ishmael was taunting the newborn, and when Sarah smurfed it, she had her husband cast away Hagar and Ishmael, saying that they will never smurf the inheritance with Isaac," Tapper answered. "God told Abraham to listen to his wife, and so Hagar and Ishmael were sent away and were taken care of by the Almighty, who made Ishmael the father of twelve tribes. Unfortunately, the strife between Ishmael and Isaac continues to this day as Ishmael's descendants are smurfing to get the inheritance that was given only to Isaac's descednants, and most importantly, to Jesus Christ Himself. I fear that this may be the strife that could result in a major war between those who follow Jesus and those who follow Satan, the enemy of men's souls." "Those are very interesting stories, Tapper, though this smurf could never see it being played out among this smurf's fellow Smurfs," Empath said. "You never know for certain how such strifes smurf themselves out until later on in life, Empath," Tapper said. Category:Empath the Luckiest Smurf stories Category:Mini-stories Category:VicGeorge2K9's articles Category:Tapper's Bible lessons